Method for making improved fried, battered and breaded foods

ABSTRACT

A process for providing fried battered and breaded food products with enhanced crispiness and golden brown color, wherein fat, caloric content and loss of volatile flavor components are controlled and shelf life of the frying medium is increased, in which a substrate having a moisture content over about 35% is battered and breaded, coated with a protein dispersion and heated to form a protein film.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/832,087,filed on Feb. 6, 1992, which has been abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumers develop preferences for particular types of food based upontexture, i.e., the tactile experience caused by the food in their mouthin conjunction with the food's distinct physical and chemicalcharacteristics. Fried battered and breaded foods are extremely popular,in good measure because of their crisp texture and their typicallygolden brown appearance. Indeed, the organoleptic desirability of manyfried foods could be significantly improved if enhanced crispiness andgolden brown appearance were obtained without overcooking the food orunduly increasing its uptake of oil by frying for extended periods.Additionally, since there is some loss of volatile flavor componentsduring frying, the flavor of fried foods could be further enhanced byminimizing such losses.

When it comes to fried battered and breaded foods, there is anotherimportant consideration: consumers are becoming increasinglyhealth-conscious. They are turning more and more to foods which are highin nutritional value and low in fat and in caloric content. Fried foods,which are typically high in both fat and calories, may derive up to 50%or more of their calories from fat absorbed during frying. To manyhealth-conscious consumers, fried battered and breaded foods thereforeare not considered an acceptable part of the daily diet. In order tosatisfy such consumers, a balance must be achieved between supplyingfried foods with the preferred crispiness and golden brown appearancewhile controlling the fat and caloric content of such foods.

This problem has been addressed in the prior art, albeit inadequately.U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,620 to Monagle, et al., which issued May 21, 1985,discloses a process for preparing baked breaded foods in which anovercoating of an egg white solution which is applied to increase theintegrity and adhesion of the breading also serves as a barrier to fatabsorption. Unfortunately, the final food product is tough or soggy, andtherefore organoleptically undesirable.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,573 to Meyers, et al., which issued Feb. 13, 1990,relates to a coating composition for inhibiting oil absorption of foodproducts. Although the coating composition reduces fat absorption,unfortunately it also produces a soggy texture and hence a significantloss of organoleptic appeal.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,251 to Vorhoef describes a process for preparingfried expanded dough pieces (e.g. croutons) with reduced oil penetrationon frying which remain crispy when exposed to high temperature liquidssuch as soup. The process includes coating the expanded dough pieceswith a thermosetting film forming material and then treating in thepresence of oil to produce a moisture film around the dough pieces. Thispatent contains no teaching regarding either fried battered and breadedfoods or substrates other than expanded dough pieces.

Finally, commercially fried foods are expensive due, at least in part,to the oil which is absorbed and therefore spent in conventional fryingprocesses. Furthermore, when battered and breaded substrates are fried,batter and breading which comes off into the frying oil will shorten itsshelf-life. Since oil is relatively costly, reducing the amount requiredin frying and extending its shelf-life are economically appealing.

Therefore, it would be highly desirable to develop a new process forproviding fried battered and breaded food products with enhancedcrispiness and golden brown color in which fat, caloric content and lossof volatile flavor components are controlled and in which the shelf lifeof the frying medium is increased by reducing fall-off of batter andbreading in the frying process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to fried battered and breaded foodproducts. More particularly, this invention relates to a new method forproducing fried battered and breaded food products in which the foodsubstrate has a moisture content in excess of about 35% by weight. Thisinvention also relates to the fried battered and breaded food productsprepared by treating such food substrates in accordance with the newmethod of the invention.

The method of the invention begins with the Choice of the proper foodsubstrate. The substrates which may be used in the practice of thisinvention are meat, poultry, seafood, cheese, vegetables and fruit. Allhave moisture contents in excess of about 35% by weight.

The chosen substrate is coated with a conventional batter and breadcrumbs are applied to the batter. The battered and breaded substrate isthen coated with a film-forming, water-dispersible protein or a blend offilm-forming, water-dispersible proteins by spraying, dipping or otherconventional application process. Dip application, however, ispreferred.

After coating, the film-forming water-dispersible protein must beallowed to stay in contact with the surface of the batter and breadingfor at least a minimum period of time ("residence time") before heatingto form a thermally irreversible coating, as discussed below. It ispreferred that the residence time be in excess of one minute.

The resulting food product will have a significantly enhanced crispinessand golden brown color and better flavor due to reduced loss of volatileflavor components, all without increasing frying times or oil uptake.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The substrates which are intended to be treated in accordance with thisinvention are meat, poultry, seafood, cheese, vegetables and fruit. Allhave moisture contents in excess of about 35% by weight.

The batter may be any leavened or unleavened batter containing fromabout 50 to 75% by weight water and preferably about 60% by weightwater. Thus, the dry ingredients of the batter may be any flour and/orstarch. Preferred flours and starches include yellow corn flour, softwheat flour, modified corn starch and combinations thereof. Optionaladditional dry ingredients include leavening, coloring and flavoringagents and hydrocolloids. One dry batter mix which has been found to beparticularly useful in the practice of the invention contains: modifiedcorn starch, yellow corn flour, soft wheat flour, coloring and flavoringagents.

The breading may be chosen from the group comprising hydrated orunhydrated, raw, fully cooked or partially cooked cereals such as wheatflour, corn flour, bread crumbs or corn flakes. The breading preferablyis ground to at least 100% through a U.S. No. 4 sieve. The breading isapplied to the food substrate by conventional procedures, includingthose referred to in the examples set out below.

We turn now to the protein coating. The protein coating will comprise anaqueous dispersion of a water-dispersible protein which, on heating,will yield a thermally irreversible film. In other words, the filmproduced on heating must withstand the subsequent application of heat.Also, the protein must be one which forms a film by dehydration ratherthan by gelling or coagulation.

Heating by frying is the preferred method of producing the film,although alternatively heating to form the thermally irreversible filmmay be carried out by baking or other methods. When the latteralternative beating techniques are "filmed" battered and breaded productwould be fried time to produce the desired fried battered and breadedend product.

One preferred film-forming, water-dispersible in the practice of thisinvention is sodium Caseinares, which are typically used to improve thesmoothness and texture of foods, are produced by solubilizing casein(the principal protein in milk) with an alkaline substance, such sodium,calcium, potassium, magnesium or ammonium hydroxide. See Food ScienceSourcebook, Second Edition, by Herbert W. Ockerman, 1991.

Other useful film-forming, water-dispersible proteins include soyprotein concentrate, soy protein isolate, protein concentrate, milkprotein hydrolysate, and wheat gluten.

The water-dispersible protein should be applied in the form of an aqeousdispersion. The level of protein should be in the range of about 5 to 15percent by weight, preferably about 8 to 12 percent by weight and mostpreferably at a level of about 10% by weight.

The application level of the protein dispersion should be sufficient toprovide a coating of at least about 0.5 percent by weight of protein,based upon the weight of the battered and beaded substrate. Preferablythe level of protein will be at least about 0.8 percent by weight andmost preferably it will be at about 1.0 percent by weight. Thus, when apreferred about 10% protein dispersion is used, the fully coatedbattered and breaded product will contain about 10% by weight of thedispersion.

A desirable adjunct to the film-forming water-dispersible proteins ofthe coating of the present invention is a thermal gelling agent such asegg albumin. Egg albumin is a simple water-dispersible protein that iscoagulable by heat which increases the adhesion and cohesion of thebreading. Egg albumin when applied alone or with breading, results in atough or soggy final fried food product. Alternative thermal gellingagents include hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, agar, gelatin andunmodified starches.

A coating comprising a blend of film-forming water-dispersible proteinsand a thermal gelling agent such as egg albumin surprisinglysignificantly reduces fat absorption and maintains or enhances crispnessto produce a crisp, moist and flavorful product, far superior to thetough or soggy product obtained when, for example, egg albumin is usedalone. When such a blend of film-forming water-dispersible proteins andegg albumin is used, the film-forming, water-dispersible protein and thealbumin should be present in the blend in a ratio of from about 1:1 toabout 3:1 by weight, based on solids. In a preferred embodiment,water-dispersible, film-forming proteins and egg albumin wouldrespectively constitute 7.5% and 2.5% solids by weight of the blend.

If initially the food substrate is unfrozen and it is to be subjected tofreezing for storage, it is preferred that the freezing step not beundertaken until after the coating process is completed. When theproduct is to be frozen, freezing is preferably down to a temperaturerange of about 0° F. to -40° F.

Food substrates which are treated as described above will exhibitenhanced crispiness, golden brown color and enhanced flavor with reducedfat uptake. Also, battered and breaded substrates treated in accordancewith the method of this invention are maintained more effectively duringfreeze/thaw storage cycles and are easier to handle due to improvedbatter/breading adherence. Finally, the shelf life of the frying oil isincreased due to reduced fall-off of batter and breading.

In this application, the term "dispersion" is intended to refer to amixture of protein and water, the term "disperse" is intended to referto the action of mixing protein and water, and the term "protein" isintended to include proteins and protein salts. Also, the terms "fatabsorption" and "oil absorption" have been used interchangeably in theapplication. Fat is a water-insoluble material derived from plants oranimals, composed primarily of triglycerides. Fat typically refers totriglycerides that are semisolid at room temperature. Fat in its liquidstate is called oil. See Dictionary of Food Ingredients, Second Edition,by Robert S. Igoe, 1989. Since fat is in a liquid form during frying,"oil" may appropriately be used as an alternative term.

EXAMPLES

The following examples are intended to be illustrative of the presentinvention and to teach one of ordinary skill in the art how to make anduse the invention. These examples are not intended to limit theinvention or its protection in any way.

Example 1

A coating was prepared by dispersing in water at a 10% solids level ablend of 7.5% solids by weight sodium caseinate and 2.5% solids byweight egg albumin and the balance water.

Battered and breaded chicken and fish patties were sprayed with thiscoating and then stored at 0° F. for a period of one month. Upon removalfrom storage, the products were fried and then presented to a sensorypanel test and subjected to fat and moisture analyses.

Table 1 below lists the scales utilized in the sensory panel tests toevaluate the crispness, chewiness and flavor of the products sprayedwith the protein blend and the controls:

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        Crispness:                                                                            1 = very crisp - 9 = very soggy                                       Toughness:                                                                            1 = very soft - 9 = very tough                                        Flavor: 1 = very delightful taste - 9 = very unfavorable                              taste                                                                 ______________________________________                                    

Recorded in Table 2 below are the results of the one-month freeze/thawstorage stability test. The data represent the mean values of threereplicate samples at each condition.

The sensory panel test data show that the products sprayed with theprotein coating maintained their crispness and were much crisper thanthe controls after one month of freeze storage. The other parameters,such as toughness and moisture content exhibited no difference. The fishand chicken patties treated with the protein blend respectively yieldedan average 31% and 15% reduction in fat absorption over a three monthstudy. The products sprayed with the protein coating exhibited superiortexture and were lower in fat and hence lower caloric content than theuntreated fried products.

                                      TABLE 2                                     __________________________________________________________________________                           Analysis                                                       Panel Test               % Fat                                                Crispness                                                                          Toughness                                                                           Flavor                                                                            % Fat                                                                             % Moisture                                                                          Reduction                                    __________________________________________________________________________    Chicken Patties                                                               Protein Coating                                                                       2.00 4.14  4.00                                                                              10.7                                                                              57.3  8.41                                         Control 4.14 3.86  4.86                                                                              11.6                                                                              57.4  --                                           Fish Patties                                                                  Protein Coating                                                                       2.71 3.86  4.00                                                                              7.59                                                                              59.7  29.1                                         Control 4.71 4.00  4.00                                                                              10.7                                                                              59.0  --                                           __________________________________________________________________________

Table 3 illustrates the sensory panel test results after two months offreeze storage. The data show that the chicken and fish patties treatedwith the protein coating were crisper than the controls. The other twoparameters do not appear to be statistically different, with theexception of the flavor of the treated chicken patties which had abetter flavor than the control.

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                                  Crispness Toughness Flavor                                          ______________________________________                                        Chicken Patties                                                               Protein Coating                                                                           2.17        4.00      4.50                                        Control     3.83        4.33      5.83                                        Fish Patties                                                                  Protein Coating                                                                           2.17        3.50      4.50                                        Control     4.00        4.00      4.50                                        ______________________________________                                    

Table 4 contains the results of the freeze/thaw storage stability testafter three months. The panel test data still show that the productssprayed with the protein coating maintained their crispness and weremuch crisper than the controls even after three months of freezestorage. Toughness, flavor and moisture exhibited no significantdifferences during this period.

The fish and chicken patties dipped in the protein coating respectivelyyielded 33.1% and 17.9% reduction in fat absorption. It is believed thatthe higher fat reduction in fish was due to its morphological structureand the moisture content of its muscle tissue and fat. The productstreated with the protein coating exhibited superior texture and flavorand were lower in fat and hence lower caloric content than the untreatedfried product.

                                      TABLE 4                                     __________________________________________________________________________                            Analysis                                                      Panel Test                %                                                   Crispiness                                                                          Toughness                                                                           Flavor                                                                            % Fat                                                                             % Moisture                                                                          Reduction                                   __________________________________________________________________________    Chicken Patties                                                               Protein Coating                                                                       2.25  4.50  5.00                                                                              11.5                                                                              58.0  17.0                                        Control 3.38  5.25  5.00                                                                              14.0                                                                              54.7  --                                          Fish Patties                                                                  Protein Coating                                                                       1.50  3.50  3.00                                                                              8.76                                                                              59.9  33.1                                        Control 3.75  2.25  3.00                                                                              13.1                                                                              56.6  --                                          __________________________________________________________________________

Example 2

Battered and breaded commercial fish and chicken products were treatedwith the protein coating, generally in accordance with the proceduredescribed above in Example 1, refrozen and then fried. The coating,however, contained a 1.0% solids level of sodium caseinate and no eggalbumin.

The results, recorded below in Table 5, indicate the effect the coatinghad on fat absorption of fried commercial products. The data representthe mean values of three replicate samples of each fried commercialproduct. The reduction of fat absorption in the coated fish productranged from approximately 29% to 48%, while the chicken patties yieldedan 19.4% fat reduction. The reason for this difference appears to bethat raw fish has a very low fat level relative to chicken. Therefore,effectively, the sole source of fat is that which is absorbed duringfrying.

                  TABLE 5                                                         ______________________________________                                                           % Fat                                                      Fried Commercial Product                                                                         Reduction                                                  ______________________________________                                        Chicken Patties    19.4                                                       Fish Patties       29.1                                                       Fish Fillets       30.8                                                       Fish Strips        48.3                                                       ______________________________________                                    

The objective of this example was to determine the effect of residencetime (contact time between protein coating and product surface) on thefinal fried battered and breaded product prepared in accordance with thepresent invention.

Pieces of frozen cod were prepared by the following five processes:

    ______________________________________                                        Process 1                                                                             Process 2  Process 3 Process 4                                                                             Process 5                                ______________________________________                                        apply   apply      apply     apply   apply                                    batter  batter     batter    batter  batter                                   apply   apply      apply     apply   apply                                    breading                                                                              breading   breading  breading                                                                              breading                                                    coat with coat with                                                                             coat with                                                   10%       10%     10%                                                         sodium    sodium  sodium                                                      caseinate caseinate                                                                             caseinate                                                   disper-   disper- disper-                                                     sion      sion    sion                                             store      store     store at                                                 under      under     room                                                     refrig-    refrig-   temper-                                                  eration    eration   ature for                                                for 45     for 45    45                                                       minutes    minutes   minutes                                          immedi- fry at     fry at    fry at  immedi-                                  ately fry                                                                             350° F. for                                                                       350° F. for                                                                      350° F. for                                                                    ately fry                                at 350° F.                                                                     45         4 minutes 4 minutes                                                                             at 350° F.                        for 4   minutes                      for 4                                    minutes                              minutes                                  ______________________________________                                    

The level of fat and fat reduction in the final product was thenexamined with results as follows:

    ______________________________________                                                               % Fat                                                  Process        % Fat   Reduction                                              ______________________________________                                        1              9.54                                                           2              10.08                                                          3              8.39    16.8*                                                  4              7.43    26.9*                                                  5              8.99    5.88**                                                 ______________________________________                                         *Process 2 as control                                                         **Process 1 as control                                                   

This data demonstrates that fat reduction was not significant when thesodium caseinate dispersion was applied to the product and it was thenimmediately fried. Processes 3 and 4, in which the product was stored inrefrigeration and at room temperature, showed greatest fat reduction.This example thus demonstrates the impact of a residence time beforefrying in reducing fat uptake in the final product. While the presentinvention is described above in connection with preferred orillustrative embodiments, the embodiments are not intended to beexhaustive or limiting of the invention. Rather, the invention isintended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalentsincluded within its spirit and scope, as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for producing improved fried batteredand breaded food products comprising the steps of:first, selecting afood substrate having a water content of at least about 35% of weight;second, applying batter and breading to the food substrate when it is inan unfrozen state to form a battered and breaded substrate; third,applying to the battered and breaded substrate an aqueous dispersion ofa water-dispersible protein which is capable of forming a thermallyirreversible film by dehydration on heating and freezing the resultingbattered, breaded and protein-dispersion-coated product; and thenwaiting at least about one minute and then heating to form the thermallyirreversible film.
 2. The process of claim 1 in which the food substrateis chosen from the group consisting of meat, poultry, seafood, cheese,vegetables and fruit.
 3. The process of claim i in which the substrateis poultry.
 4. The process of claim 1 in which the substrate is seafood.5. The process of claim 1 in which the batter is applied by spraying ordipping.
 6. The process of claim 1 in which the batter contains about60% by weight water.
 7. The process of claim 1 in which the breading ischosen from the group consisting of hydrated or unhydrated, raw, fullycooked or partially cooked cereals such as wheat flour, corn flour,bread crumbs or corn flakes.
 8. The process of claim 1 in which thebreading is ground to at least 100% through a U.S. No. 4 sieve.
 9. Theprocess of claim 1 in which the protein is chosen from the groupconsisting of caseinates, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate,whey protein concentrate, milk protein hydrolysate, and wheat gluten.10. The process of claim 1 in which the protein is sodium caseinate. 11.The process of claim 1 in which the level of protein in the aqueousdispersion of water-dispersible protein is in the range of about 5 to 15percent by weight.
 12. The process of claim 1 in which the level ofprotein in the aqueous dispersion of water-dispersible protein is in therange of about 8 to 12 percent by weight.
 13. The process of claim 1 inwhich the level of protein in the aqueous dispersion ofwater-dispersible protein is about 10 percent by weight.
 14. The processof claim 1 in which the protein dispersion is applied at an applicationrate at least sufficient to provide about 0.5 percent by weight ofprotein, based upon the weight of the battered and breaded substrate.15. The process of claim 1 in which the protein dispersion is applied atan application rate at least sufficient to provide about 0.8 percent byweight of protein, based upon the weight of the battered and breadedsubstrate.
 16. The process of claim 1 in which the protein dispersion isapplied at an application rate at least sufficient to provide about 1.0percent by weight of protein, based upon the weight of the battered andbreaded substrate.
 17. The process of claim 1 in which the foodsubstrate is initially unfrozen and is subjected to freezing for storageafter the completion of the heating step.
 18. The process of claim 1 inwhich the heating step is delayed at least about one minute, afterapplying the protein dispersion.
 19. The process of claim 1 in which theheating step is carried out by frying.
 20. The process of claim 1 inwhich a thermal gelling agent is combined with the protein dispersionbefore application to the battered and breaded substrate.
 21. Theprocess of claim 20 in which in the thermal gelling agent is eggalbumin.
 22. The process of claim 21 in which the egg albumin is blendedwith the protein in a ratio of from about 1:1 to 3:1 by weight, based onsolids.
 23. A process for producing improved fried battered and breadedfood products comprising the steps of:first, selecting an unfrozen foodsubstrate having a water content of at least about 35% of weight;second, applying batter and breading to the food substrate to form abattered and breaded substrate third, applying to the battered andbreaded substrate an aqueous dispersion of a water-dispersible proteinwhich is capable of forming a thermally irreversible film on heating;cooling to freeze the battered, breaded and protein dispersion coatedsubstrate; and then heating to form the thermally irreversible film.